TWO Welsh companies have been named on a list of the 100 fastest growing firms in the UK.

TWO Welsh companies have been named on a list of the 100 fastest growing firms in the UK.

Both Comtec Europe, based in Cwmbran, and Abertillery-based Sofas UK have been named in the 2004 Vantis Hot 100 in Real Business magazine.

Comtec, which produces the software used by a host of top travel agents came in at number 51 on the list.

The company saw an 81.5% increase in sales, boosting turnover to £5.7m and achieving profits of £900,000.

Formed in 1995 it now estimates that it supports 60% of the retail travel industry in the UK.

Its clients include My Travel, FirstChoice, Thomas Cook and TUI.

It also produces e-commerce products used by lastminute.com and bargainholidays.com.

Sofas UK achieved 61st place on the list with sales growth of 74.6%.

The company now has a £5.5m turnover and made pre-tax profits of £300,000.

But what makes Sofas UK' s inclusion on the list all the more impressive is that it is the second successive year that the company has featured.

Last year the company came out at the very top of the list.

The company, which was established in 1996, is run by husband and wife team Charles and Josephine Pugh.

Sofas UK manufactures its own range of sofas in Abertillery and sells them through its retail operations in the south east of England.

Mrs Pugh said the company is now looking for even further growth, with plans to dramatically increase the size of its retail operations from the 10 stores it currently owns.

"We are starting our expansion phase," she said. "We are going up to 20 shops this year and in 2005 we have plans to go up to 100.

"We have 50 staff in our retail stores at the moment but that is going to grow," she said. "We are also expanding our product range and going in to cabinet furniture - you can only sell sofas so many times so we have decided to widen our range."

The company director revealed that four of those stores were currently in the pipeline and they would be mostly in London and the Home Counties.

However, the company is also planning to open its first Welsh store in Cardiff.

Mrs Pugh said that the furniture market was a highly competitive one, yet despite the competition Sofas UK was thriving.

"It is a very competitive market but you have got to get in there and fight it out," she said. "We are obviously doing something right, or we would not be doing so well."

She attributed the company's success to a number of factors.

"It's down to service, attention to detail, looking after our customers and trying to give them what they are after in terms of delivery times and after-sales service, which is important," she said.

The top UK company overall in the Hot 100 is London-based film distributor Redbus, which counts Bend it like Beckham among its hit films.

The company achieved a remarkable annual sales growth of 284%, achieving a turnover of £15.1m and profits of more than £2m.

To qualify for the Hot 100 companies have to show a profit in their latest accounts and must start the four year qualifying period with a minimum turnover of £250,000.